[Rhodes22-list] Energy Problem - Global Warming Solved!

[Brad Haslett]

This is soooo simple.  Why didn't one of us think of this?  Brad

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Camel demand soars in India

By Jo Johnson in New Delhi

Published: May 2 2008 19:05 | Last updated: May 2 2008 19:05

Farmers in the Indian state of Rajasthan are rediscovering the humble camel.


As the cost of running gas-guzzling tractors soars, even-toed ungulates are
making a comeback, raising hopes that a fall in the population of the desert
state's signature animal can be reversed.

"It's excellent for the camel population if the price of oil continues to go
up because demand for camels will also go up," says Ilse Köhler-Rollefson of
the League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development. "Two
years ago, a camel cost little more than a goat, which is nothing. The price
has since trebled."

The shift comes not a moment too soon for a national camel population that
has fallen more than 50 per cent over the past decade, to about 450,000,
according to government figures.

Market prices for these "ships of the desert", which crashed with the
growing affordability of motorised transport, are rising again as oil prices
soar.

A sturdy male with a life expectancy of 60-80 years now fetches up to
Rs40,000 ($973), compared to Rs5,000-Rs10,000 three years ago, according to
Hanuwant Singh of the Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan, a non-profit welfare
organisation for livestock keepers. Entry-level tractors cost around $4,000.

"It's very good news," says Mr Singh, whose organisation aims to dispel the
image of backwardness associated with camel ownership and tries to promote
higher economic returns for breeders. "We had started to see camels, even
female ones, being slaughtered for their meat. Now they are replacing the
tractor again."

It is too soon to say that the future for camels is bright. Shrinking
grazing areas and a lack of investment in fodder trees may thwart a
sustainable revival. Inadequate nutrition undermines the resilience of camel
herds, making them vulnerable to disease and lowering birth rates.

The LPPS is encouraging the Raika community – traditional guardians of the
camel population since the days when Maharajahs rode them into battle – to
diversify into products such as camel milk, optimistically dubbed "the white
gold of the desert", camel leather handbags and camel bone jewellery.

Animal-lovers hope that the surge in oil prices will enhance the status of
camel-breeders, who resent the lack of respect society has accorded their
traditional knowledge, and give the Raika a strong incentive to stop selling
female camels for slaughter.

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